Published 2026-05-02 08-53
Summary
AI tells in writing, then a take on how coding tools, agents, and SaaS pressure are thinning out the software middleman.
The story
AI tells:
– Same rhythm: claim, name-drop, neat conclusion.
– Abstract nouns pile up: intent, outcomes, value proposition, systems.
– Market words flatten the voice: mid-tier, commodity, regulatory lock-in.
– Hedging blunts the edge: “probably,” “I’m not saying.”
– One concrete scene, expenses. More human texture helps.
– “Four-phase squeeze” feels too tidy, like a slide deck wearing a tiny hat.
🟢 The Software Middleman Is Getting Cut Out
Software has been the bridge between “I want to track my expenses” and “I want to know where my money went.” For years, the bridge looked like apps. We learned menus, clicked buttons, filled boxes, built dashboards, and pretended tabs were a personality.
The app answered, “How do I do this?” I’m caring less about the “how.”
*The squeeze is coming from four sides.* Coding is getting easier to direct. Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code. People are moving from typing every line to saying what they want built. The skill floor keeps dropping.
SaaS is getting wobbly. If a custom tool can be spun up in hours, paying every month per seat for a plain project tracker, CRM, form builder, or internal dashboard gets harder to defend. The moat was difficulty. Difficulty has a leak.
Agents are walking in with their little robot shoes. Operator, Perplexity Assistant, Claude Computer Use. These aren’t tools you poke all day. They’re things you instruct, then supervise so they don’t wander into traffic.
Then software starts feeling optional. Why open a spreadsheet when an agent can track expenses and flag weird charges each month? The middleman gets thinner. Yay, fewer buttons to babysit.
*So what survives?* My bet: platforms with deep network effects, private data, or rules wrapped around them like barbed wire. The exposed layer is mid-tier SaaS with plain features and no weird little treasure underneath.
Every app isn’t disappearing tomorrow. Th
For more from The Extinction of Software, visit
https://clearsay.net/the-extinction-of-software/.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, private keys, feelings, threats, and shouts of rage!
Based on https://clearsay.net/the-extinction-of-software/
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